Dental health and lifestyle in four early mediaeval juvenile populations: Comparisons between urban and rural individuals, and between coastal and inland settlements

Dental stress markers such as enamel hypoplasia and caries are suitable indicators of population health and lifestyle, although they must be recorded and interpreted carefully. To date, they have been predominantly studied in adult samples, whereas juvenile remains are also affected by these lesions. In this study, dental enamel hypoplasia and caries were both evaluated on 613 non-adult individuals from four early mediaeval Moravian and Frankish skeletal series, who had experienced contrasting environments and lifestyles. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between these biological traits and living conditions, and how this is manifested in the juvenile dental remains.Significant differences between populations were found in stress markers, dental lesions and the way these were manifested. Exposure to stressful conditions varies between urban and rural populations and is related to age groups. Although the children under investigation seem to have had different diets, it is difficult to distinguish the biological contribution (different enamel susceptibility) from the lifestyle contribution (different food, environment) in the formation of caries. Moreover, such studies must be interpreted carefully due to the possibility of intra- and inter-observer errors and the subjectivity of the scoring techniques.Nevertheless, this study also demonstrates that results of an investigation of juvenile skeletal remains can be as informative as a study of adults and that juvenile skeletons can be included in large bioarchaeological population studies.

RésuméLes marqueurs de stress non spécifique et les lésions carieuses apportent des informations pertinentes sur la santé et le mode de vie des populations du passé, même s’ils doivent être enregistrés et interprétés avec précaution. Les études préexistantes combinant ces caractères concernent essentiellement les adultes bien que les enfants soient également touchés. Cette étude repose sur 613 individus immatures provenant de quatre populations du haut Moyen Âge au mode de vie contrasté, sur lesquels nous avons enregistré à la fois les hypoplasies de l’émail dentaire et les lésions carieuses. Son but est d’évaluer la relation entre ces expressions biologiques et le mode de vie des enfants.Des différences significatives ont été mises en évidence entre les populations ainsi qu’une certaine influence de l’âge au décès. Les interprétations environnementales restent néanmoins complexes car les facteurs de biais sont nombreux tant par les techniques de cotation qui souffrent d’une forte erreur intra- et inter-observateurs que par notre connaissance limitée des véritables conditions de vie au haut Moyen Âge. Toutefois, cette étude démontre aussi l’intérêt d’intégrer les enfants dans les larges études de populations en bioarchéologie.